Serfoji I Bhonsle ( ta, முதலாம் சரபோஜி ராஜா போன்ஸ்லே, mr, शरभोजी राजे भोसले (प्रथम)) (1675–1728), also spelt as Sarabhoji I Bhonsle, was the son of the

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

ruler of

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

Ekoji I and the

Raja ''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia. The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...

of Thanjavur from 1712 to 1728. He was the third Raja of the Bhonsle dynasty of

. He consolidated the hold of Marathas over Thanjavur and patronised arts and literature.

The Marava War of Succession

A war of succession broke out in the Marava kingdom in the year 1720. Subramanian, Pg. 37 Vijaya Raghunatha, the adopted son of Raja Kilavan had died and a war of succession broke out between two other sons of Kilavan namely Bhavani Shankar and Tanda Teva. Serfoji I supported the cause of Bhavani Shankar and placed him on the throne. But Bhavani Shankar did not fulfill his promise to cede all lands north of the

Pambar River Pambar is the name of three rivers in South India: * Pambar River (Northern Tamil Nadu) * Pambar River (Southern Tamil Nadu) * Pambar River (Kerala) {{Disambiguation ...

to Thanjavur. Thanjavur switched sides and began to support another pretender. The Marava army suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Serfoji I. Bhavani Shankar was deposed and the country conquered by Serfoji I. The country was split up into three parts: one part was annexed by Thanjavur while the

Zamindar A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...

is of

Sivaganga Sivaganga () is a city and headquarters of the Sivaganga district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Sivaganga is a rani velunachiyar kingdom of Tamil Nadu. It is an important city in this district for official and commercial purposes. Its ni ...

and

Ramnad Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...

were created out of the other two.

Encounter with Abirami Pattar

Ruler Serfoji I, the Maratha Raja of Thanjavur who ruled over the land, visited the Abirami temple to pay homage to Lord

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. On noticing the peculiar behavior of Subramaniya Iyer (also known as Abirami Pattar) who was a temple priest, he inquired the other priests about the individual. One of them remarked that he was a madman while another rejected this categorization explaining to the king that Subramaniya Iyer was only an ardent devotee of Goddess Abhirami. Seeking to know the truth himself, Serfoji approached the priest and asked him what day of the month it was i.e. whether it was a full-moon day or a new-moon day. Subramaniya Iyer answered mistakenly that it was a Pournami (Tamil: பௌர்ணமி, Lit. full-moon day) who could see nothing else but the shining luminant form of the Goddess. While in reality, the night was an Amavasya (Tamil: அம்மாவசை, Lit. new-moon day). The king rode off informing the former that he would have his head cut off, if the moon did not appear on the sky by six in the night. Immediately realizing his mistake, Subramaniya Iyer supposedly lit a huge fire and erected a platform over it supported by a hundred ropes. He sat upon the platform and prayed to the Goddess Abhirami to save him. He cut off one rope after another in succession on completion of each verse of his prayer. These hymns form the Abhirami Anthadhi. On verge of completing the 79th hymn, the Goddess Abhirami manifested herself before him and threw her thadanga (Tamil: தடங்கை, Lit. diamond earring ornament), over the sky such that it shined with bright light upon the horizon. The area around the temple was surrounded by light like noon. Overcome with ecstasy, Subramaniya Iyer composed 21 more verses in praise of the Goddess. The king repented his mistake and immediately cancelled the punishment he had awarded Subramaniya Iyer. He also bestowed upon the latter the title of "Abirami Pattar" or "One who worships Goddess Abhirami or The Priest of Goddess Abhirami" and supposedly awarded his successors the privilege of using the title "Bharathi".

Literature

The reign of Serfoji I was known for literary works of considerable significance. ''Advaita Kirtana'', a Tamil manuscript in the Tanjore library speaks of a breach in the Cauvery dam and refusal of the Madurai Nayak to allow this repair. Subramanian, Pg. 38 Drought and famine followed, and then, the necessary repairs were carried out. There is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

named ''Sarabhoji Charitra'' which praises the king for fighting with those who came to cut off the Cauvery dam. The reference here has to be traced to an event in the Marava war of succession. Serfoji I is presented as a pious and charitable monarch. He endowed Brahmanas with

agraharams An ''Agraharam'' or ''Agrahara'' was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maintain temples in that land or a pilgrimage site and to susta ...

like Mangamatam in Tiruverkadu and Sarabhojirajapuram in Tirukkadaiyur. Subramanian, Pg. 39 ''Vidyaparinaya'' written by Vedakavi was enacted in the festival of the Goddess Anandavalli in Thanjavur. Subramanian, Pg. 40 It speaks of the marriage of the individual soul with ''Vidya''. ''Sarabharaja Vilasa'' and ''Ratinamanmatha'' were written by Jagannatha son of a minister of Ekoji. ''Sivabharata'', a Sanskrit manuscript deals with the ancestry and achievements of

Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adil ...

. It was translated into Tamil as ''Sivajicharitram''.

Succession

Serfoji I did not have a legitimate male offspring of his own. However, after his death, a claimant rose in the person of Katturaja who assumed the name Shahuji II and claimed to be an illegitimate offspring of Serfoji II.

Death

Serfoji I died in 1728. One of his queens performed Sati. He was succeeded by his younger brother

Tukkoji Tukkoji Bhonsle (1677–1736) was the fourth Maratha ruler of Thanjavur, located in South India. He was from the Bhonsle dynasty and was the son of Ekoji I as well as the younger brother of Shahuji I and Serfoji I. Tukkoji ruled Thanjavur fro ...

Footnotes

References

# K. R. Subramanian(1928). ''The Maratha Rajas of Tanjore'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Serfoji 01 1675 births 1728 deaths Maharajas of Thanjavur